*** Knowledge in Digital continuity ***

Question 1:

The Melbourne Greek Diaspora Association (MGDA) was established in 1946 in order to

provide support to newly-arrived Greek migrants in Melbourne. Seventy-five years later the

MGDA has more than two thousand members of all ages, with many families being members

over several generations. It now serves as a key cultural organisation for the Greek

community, providing members with opportunities to socialise and celebrate cultural events

as well as running a Saturday school for children to learn the Greek language. Membership of

MGDA is restricted to people with Greek ancestry. The MGDA holds records going back

seventy-five years, including minute books, membership records, photographs, documents

and posters. It continues to create new records, although nowadays most new records are

digital. Assume that they have hired you as a consultant and asked you to provide advice on

which records the MGDA should keep and how it should organise its archive.

Answer the following questions:

1.Who are the stakeholders and what would be their role/s in the archive?

2.What legislation will you have to take into account when deciding which records can

be made accessible to MGDA members and to researchers who may wish to consult

the records for social and historical research?

3.Discuss 4 criteria that you will you use to select which records should be preserved

and which records can be discarded

4. Discuss 4 issues that will have to be addressed if the MGDA wants to make its

historical collections accessible online.

Question 2:

In the Week 6 tutorial, we discussed the role of archival authorities and the notion of

trust. Discuss 2 reasons why information professionals may think that archival

institutions are better equipped to look after paper records than digital records and

suggest ways to address the problems.

Question 3:

The National Archives of Australia released in 2015 a Digital Continuity 2020 Policy. In

your own words, discuss the meaning of digital continuity. Identify and discuss 4 issues

that make it difficult to achieve digital continuity.

Question 4:

Community archives differ in several ways from government archival institutions. Give

2 examples of community archives. Explain what their objectives are, who their target

audience is, what materials they include and what activities they are involved in.